Coalition for Juvenile Justice Summit: JJDPA Today

Coalition for Juvenile Justice Summit: JJDPA Today

School Leadership for Improving the Lives of Youth: Innovative Steps for Preventing Placement of Youth

in the Juvenile Justice System

June 11, 2007

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JJ/SE Shared Agenda

Who we are:

Nancy Reder, Deputy DirectorNational Association for State Directors of

Special Education (NASDSE)

Judith Storandt, Senior Staff AttorneyNational Disability Rights Network (NDRN)

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Why We Began OurShared Agenda Initiative

• Two different organizations with a shared interest/concern:– Students with disabilities are over-represented in

the juvenile justice system• They might not belong there.• Whether they do or not, they might not be

getting services.• Secure confinement can harm them.*

*The Dangers of Detention. (Justice Policy Institute , 2006)

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Juvenile Justice/Special Ed Issues

• Surgeon General reports that 20% of children ages 9-17 have a mental or addictive disorder.

• 2/3s of juvenile detention facilities hold youth who are waiting for community mental health services.

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JJ Issues (continued)

• Detention facilities are not equipped to provide adequate care to youth with mental illness who are incarcerated while waiting for treatment services.

• Delinquency is not synonymous with violence – only 4% of youth arrests involve violent crimes.

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JJ Issues (continued)

• Common school behavior problems are related to defiance, insubordination and are not related to physical threats, confrontations, fighting or other dangerous behaviors.

• Problematic behaviors in school that are manifestations of a student’s disabilities should be addressed by Behavior Support Plans, not by a referral to the JJ system.

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JJ Issues (continued)

• Youth in detention facilities:• Might not be identified as having a

disability; or• they might have an Individualized Education

Program (IEP) but are not getting services required by their IEPs.

• Short stays in detention disrupt educational programming.

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Risks for Behavior Problems and Delinquency

• Poverty• Gender and ethnic bias• Chronic behavior and mental health issues• Neurobiological risks• Family factors• Community and peer factors• Schools• Foster care

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Mitigating Risk Factors

• Schools can mitigate risk factors by building ‘protective’ factors• Communication• Cognition, academic performance • Pro-social behavior

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How to Break the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Develop strategies that promote school success.

Provide teachers the tools they need.

Develop school-family-community partnerships.

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Educational success reduces delinquency

Quality education can serve as a turning point for youth confined in JJ facilities.

Confined youth typically enter JJ facilities with significant educational deficiencies, scoring on average two to three grade levels below their age in academic achievement.

Many have chronic histories of school failure, truancy, dropout, and school discipline problems.

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Educational Success Reduces Delinquency

Quality educational programs in JJ facilities have been effective in correcting academic deficiencies.

The more education that youth complete while incarcerated, the lower their recidivism rate. (Black et al., 1996; Foley, 2001; Harer, 1994).

See The Importance of Reading Literacy, a NDTAC webinar (June 2006) at: www.ndtac.org/nd/events/webinars.asp.

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JJ/SE Shared AgendaHistory

• Background

• First group meeting – March 2005

• Evolution of shared initiative into a “white paper” and “Tools for Success”

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Part I: White Paper

• School Leadership for Improving the Lives of Youth: Innovative Steps for Preventing Placement of Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

• Author: Kevin Dwyer• Release date: June 2007• Will be available online at:

www.edjj.org/focus/prevention/JJ-SE.htm

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Part II: Tools for Success

JJ/SE Shared Agenda, Tools for Promoting Educational Success and Reducing Delinquency, NASDSE & NDRN, Washington, DC: January 20007

Currently available on EDJJ website www.edjj.org/focus/prevention/JJ-SE.htm

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Tools for Success: Steps

• STEP 1. Pre-School Early Intervention: Birth Through Age 5

• STEP 2. Universal Interventions• STEP 3. Targeted Interventions• STEP 4. Intensive Interventions • STEP 5. Transition from School to Post- School

Activities

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Tools for Success: Steps

• STEP 6. Children in the Child Welfare System• STEP 7. Court-Involved Youth• STEP 8. Youth in Juvenile Justice Facilities• STEP 9. School Re-enrollment and Transition

from Juvenile Justice Facilities

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Need to Address Non-Academic Barriers to Learning

• Social climate– School and community– Predictable, consistent

• Students “availability” for instruction– At school– In class– Academic engagement

• Family voice/involvement

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Prevention, Early Targeted andIntensive Interventions

• Multi-tier approach for addressing both behavior and academic needs of students– Tier 1 – core interventions– Tier 2 – targeted interventions– Tier 3 – intensive interventions

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Tiered Intervention

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Core Features of Tiered Interventions

• Investment in prevention• Universal screening• Early intervention for students not at

“benchmark”• Multi-tiered, prevention-based intervention

approach• Progress monitoring

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Core Features (cont’d)

• Individualized interventions commensurate with assessed level of need

• Use of problem-solving process at all 3 tiers• Active use of data for decision-making• Research-based practices at all 3 tiers

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Tools for Success

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Tools for SuccessThe Collaborative Process

Work Groups

Guidelines

Criteria

Format

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What is an evidence-based practice?

The integration of :the best research evidence with clinical experience and patient values.

Institute of Medicine, 2000

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Why care about EBPs?

It’s important to have scientific evidence to support decision making.

Using the “best of the best” information ensures time, money & resources are used most efficiently.

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How to evaluate whether an intervention or program is an EBP

Is it backed by “strong” evidence of effectiveness?

Based on the:

► quality of the research, and

► quality of the evidence.

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RESEARCH QUALITY

Not all research evidence is of equal value.

There are hierarchies of evidence, based on the quality of the research design used.

The higher the quality of the research design, the greater the level of confidence in the results.

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Some research designs that can be used to evaluate effectiveness

•Anecdotal: consumer satisfaction•Case study•Pilot study•Single group pre-post test study•Comparison group (quasi experimental)•Multiple quasi-experimental studies•Single study using a random control trial (RCT)•Clinical trial replications with different populations

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Pyramid of Research Evidence(COCE, 2000)

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Educational success reduces delinquency

Quality education can serve as a turning point for youth confined in JJ facilities.

Confined youth typically enter JJ facilities with significant educational deficiencies, scoring on average two to three grade levels below their age in academic achievement.

Many have chronic histories of school failure, truancy, dropout, and school discipline problems.

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Educational Success Reduces Delinquency

Quality educational programs in JJ facilities have been effective in correcting academic deficiencies.

The more education an individual completes while incarcerated, the lower their recidivism rate. (Black et al., 1996; Foley, 2001; Harer, 1994). See The Importance of Reading Literacy, a NDTAC webinar (June 2006) at: www.ndtac.org/nd/events/webinars.asp.

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Tools for SuccessSelection Criteria

• Best practices [evidence-based; identified as the result of research, preferably large, randomized control trials]

• Promising practices [there are recorded positive outcomes, but no rigorous research]

• Emerging practices [founded on sound theory; e.g., learning theory, social developmental theory, behavioral and attribution theory).

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Tools for SuccessFormat

Brief overview Implementation essentials Program evaluation Available evidence Resources Background reading

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Evaluating Evidence-based Practices -- Resources

• Identifying and implementing Educational Practices Supported by Rigorous Evidence: A User Friendly Guide. (2003). Coalition for Evidence-based Policy. http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/rigorousevid/indexhtml

• Turning Knowledge Into Practice: A Manual for Behavioral Health Administrators and Practitioners About Understanding & Implementing Evidence-Based Practices. http://www.openminds.com/indres/ebpmanual.pdf

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National Collection Sites for Model Programs & Interventions

See List in Tools for Success, Appendix C Examples:• Model Programs Guide. Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice (May 2003). http://www.dsgonline.com/mpg2.5/search.htm

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National Collection Sites (continued)

• Exemplary and Promising Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools Programs http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/exemplary01/exemplary01.pdf#search=%22CASASTART%20%22Safe%20and%20Drug%20Free%20Schools%20Program%22%22

• Model, Promising, and Does not Work Programs, U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence. (2001) http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence/chapter5/appendix5b.html#LST

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Incarceration is not an Evidence-Based Practice

One of the better studies conducted on this subject found that prior incarceration was the single strongest predictor of future delinquency, six times stronger than gang membership and eight times stronger than poor family relationships.

Vince Schiraldi, JYRD Director From the Director (5-17-05)

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Tools for SuccessStep 7. COURT-INVOLVED YOUTH

• CASASTART sm

• Dawn Project • Educational Advocacy Program • LifeSkills™ Training (LST) • Pen Or Pencil • Strengthening Families Program (SFP) • Truancy Intervention Project Georgia (TIP)

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Step 8. JUVENILE JUSTICE FACILITIES

• Discipline with Dignity (DWD)• Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD)• Pathfinder Educational Program • Promoting Family Involvement for Youths in the

Juvenile Justice System • School-Wide Behavioral Management in Juvenile

Corrections• Staff Development for Educators of Confined Youth• Futures Channel Digital Video Resource Library

(DVRL)

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Step 9: AFTERCARE & COMMUNITY REINTEGRATION FROM CONFINEMENT

• Aftercare for Indiana through Mentoring (AIM) • Arizona Detention Transition Project (ADTP) • Juvenile Education Initiative (JEdI) • Juvenile Re-entry Action Plan (JRAP) • Maine Reintegration Teams • Merging Two Worlds (M2W) • Nashua Re-Entry Project • Project SUPPORT • Virginia Legislation: School Reenrollment After Release

From Custody

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Tools for Success

Many juveniles can be diverted from delinquency or other trouble if their basic needs are met.